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Adefovir dipivoxil in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B

Anastasia M Rivkin1

  • 1Clinical Pharmacy Practice, Arnold and Marie Schwartz College of Pharmacy, Long Island University, Brooklyn, NY, USA. arivkina@liu.edu

The Annals of Pharmacotherapy
|March 3, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Adefovir dipivoxil is a new treatment for chronic hepatitis B (CHB) that improves liver health and viral markers. It is effective for both HBeAg-positive and HBeAg-negative CHB, and for patients resistant to lamivudine.

Area of Science:

  • Hepatology
  • Virology
  • Pharmacology

Background:

  • Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) affects 400 million people globally.
  • Current treatments like interferon alfa-2b and lamivudine have limitations.
  • Adefovir dipivoxil represents a novel acyclic nucleotide analog for CHB treatment.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the efficacy and properties of adefovir dipivoxil in treating CHB.
  • To compare adefovir dipivoxil with existing treatment options.

Main Methods:

  • Comprehensive literature searches of MEDLINE and PubMed from 1966 to December 2003.
  • Inclusion of randomized controlled studies, meta-analyses, and original meeting abstracts.
  • Manual searches of references from retrieved primary and secondary literature.

Main Results:

  • Adefovir dipivoxil (10 mg/day for 48 weeks) improved liver histology in 28% of HBeAg-positive and 31% of HBeAg-negative CHB patients versus placebo.
  • Significant improvements in virologic and biochemical parameters were observed in both patient groups.
  • Adefovir dipivoxil demonstrated efficacy against lamivudine-resistant CHB and had minimal adverse effects at the approved dose.

Conclusions:

  • Adefovir dipivoxil offers a significant new therapeutic option for CHB.
  • It is suitable as an initial treatment and for patients with lamivudine-resistant CHB.
  • The drug addresses limitations of current CHB therapies.
Abstract

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